Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (January-February 2018)

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#77      

TownieMatt

T
CU Expat
Chicago
TownieMatt
There aren't any 2018 wings left in Illinois that can help us. Drew Peterson included. Mark Smith V2 ain't walking through that door.
 
#78      

ChiefIllini

C
ChiefIllini
Wings are probably the easiest position to find and also the easiest to mask deficiencies at.
MS and DMW easily have the capability of playing their, as does Kipper (where his natural position is in the first place). Thats two freshman and a soph. While length would be nice to have, I dont see why we should reach for a wing when theres plenty of quality ones every year.

Get me a couple bigs instead please.
 
#79      

Illiniguy13

Illiniguy13
Illiniguy13
ChiefIllini said:
Wings are probably the easiest position to find and also the easiest to mask deficiencies at.
MS and DMW easily have the capability of playing their, as does Kipper (where his natural position is in the first place). Thats two freshman and a soph. While length would be nice to have, I dont see why we should reach for a wing when theres plenty of quality ones every year.

Get me a couple bigs instead please.
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Bigs are priority #1, no doubt. But in a pressure defense, rangy athletes are so valuable and we lack those. We are also a poor outside shooting team. There is a reason why athletic wings who can shoot are highly coveted. We need one.
 
#80      

PlayAZ

P
PlayAZ
ChiefIllini said:
Wings are probably the easiest position to find and also the easiest to mask deficiencies at.
MS and DMW easily have the capability of playing their, as does Kipper (where his natural position is in the first place). Thats two freshman and a soph. While length would be nice to have, I dont see why we should reach for a wing when theres plenty of quality ones every year.

Get me a couple bigs instead please.
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Must just be me, I look at Smith and see off-guard and I look at Williams and see all around guard/wing. DaMonte so far plays much bigger than listed.:chief:
 
#81      

Peoria Pipeline

Peoria Pipeline
Peoria Pipeline
IlliniDent said:
It is hard to explain after watching yesterday's game how badly we need both Liddell and Okoro along with an athletic wing like Whitney.

If Kipper gets out of his funk the need for a wing won't be quite as bad but as of now we are desperate for those types of players.
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Totally agree. We are going to have one of the best group of guards in the country, but without big guys it wont work. I would take Thamba as well, can never have too many big options. I was pretty jealous watching the Gophers frontline last night.
 
#82      

Peoria Pipeline

Peoria Pipeline
Peoria Pipeline
- We seem to be the clear leader for Okoro at the moment. Obviously that could change if certain schools end up getting involved

- The team that scares me with Liddell is Florida.
 
#84      

PlayAZ

P
PlayAZ
Peoria Pipeline said:
Totally agree. We are going to have one of the best group of guards in the country, but without big guys it wont work. I would take Thamba as well, can never have too many big options. I was pretty jealous watching the Gophers frontline last night.
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Would love to have 1/2 of the Alabama frontcourt size to pair with our guard talent albeit young...that would be a very fun team to watch.:chief:
 
#85      

combes

C
combes
Peoria Pipeline said:
Totally agree. We are going to have one of the best group of guards in the country, but without big guys it wont work. I would take Thamba as well, can never have too many big options. I was pretty jealous watching the Gophers frontline last night.
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Derek Piper said again on the radio today that Illinois has cooled on Thamba because they don’t want another project.
 
#86      

618MattD

618MattD
618MattD
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#87      

Obelix

Obelix
Obelix
combes said:
Derek Piper said again on the radio today that Illinois has cooled on Thamba because they don’t want another project.
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Translation: I do not believe we are getting Thamba. We desperately need size and the guy seems pretty athletic with some skills, also getting recruited by good schools. I find it hard to believe we are in a position to turn down players like Thamba :D
 
#88      

Illini Beer 4 All

I
Illini Beer 4 All
618MattD said:
There has to be an athletic big in the JUCO route, right? I mean, Missouri State got Alize Johnson out of JUCO and he is about to be an NBA late 1st rounder. Alize is 6'9" and has 10 double doubles out of their 16 games, including the game tonight.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4067045/alize-johnson
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Nick Marshall was a top 100 player that committed to Memphis played a year and then went juco. At 6'11" 240 and some ability he'd be interesting.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
#89      

combes

C
combes
Obelix said:
Translation: I do not believe we are getting Thamba. We desperately need size and the guy seems pretty athletic with some skills, also getting recruited by good schools. I find it hard to believe we are in a position to turn down players like Thamba :D
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Don’t think that is it. Underwood told his staff that we already have two project bigs and he doesn’t want another. He wants someone ready to play when they get here.
 
#90      

Obelix

Obelix
Obelix
combes said:
Don’t think that is it. Underwood told his staff that we already have two project bigs and he doesn’t want another. He wants someone ready to play when they get here.
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Well, I want Mo Bamba too, or some big who will come super ready to play, but so does every coach in college basketball as well. The bottom line though is we have struck out again, and big talented big men do not grow on trees, and our frontcourt screams for help.

Flo Thamba has size, some skills and athleticism beyond our current "projects," plus he is being recruited by higher level schools. So not sure of the implication that he is another Matic Vesel and we have no time for him.
 
#91      

STLIlliniMike

S
STLIlliniMike
combes said:
Don’t think that is it. Underwood told his staff that we already have two project bigs and he doesn’t want another. He wants someone ready to play when they get here.
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Bigs that are ready to contribute at a high level as true freshman are blue chip guys that every program in America is after. I really hope BU isn't putting all his eggs in the basket of landing one of those.
 
#92      

JFGsCoffeeMug

JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
Chicago
JFGsCoffeeMug
It doesn't sound like Underwood said anything about our next big being a freshman. Guess we're going in a different direction for next year.
 
#93      

Davo79

D
Davo79
I'll go ahead and put it out there. Since Flo Thamba is looking more and more unlikely due to the immediate need for an inside presence and BU is looking for a big ready to come in and play right away. I keep seeing hints of jucos and transfers. Been researching for a while now and this guy really intrigues me and gotta wonder if maybe BU has his eye on him with. I present to you Juco C/PF Jethro Tshisumpa. I also noticed a few on here mentioning Nick Marshall. Personally I think they could both be big impact players next year and put Illinois right back in the top of the Big10 and with 2 scholarship and obvious playing time available what's not to like about Illinois. Juco players are first and foremost looking for immediate playing time and I'm not sure there is a better opportunity for these two than Illinois and playing in the BIG10. Just some food for thought, I don't post often but this lack of an inside presence is driving me nuts.

Jethro Tshisumpa
https://youtu.be/ydxxS8x078A

Nick Marshal
https://youtu.be/kcP1yGY-JY8
 
#97      

imjustsooffended

I
imjustsooffended
Obelix said:
Well, I want Mo Bamba too, or some big who will come super ready to play, but so does every coach in college basketball as well. The bottom line though is we have struck out again, and big talented big men do not grow on trees, and our frontcourt screams for help.

Flo Thamba has size, some skills and athleticism beyond our current "projects," plus he is being recruited by higher level schools. So not sure of the implication that he is another Matic Vesel and we have no time for him.
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It's a classic "well we didn't want you any way" when we inevitably lose out
 
#99      

TCTORNADO

TCTORNADO
TCTORNADO
Can't we to see the de-commit list when coaches start getting fired in March. For some reason I think at least one of our 2018 recruits will come from that list.
 
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